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2013-03-24 - How Do You Know?
Hope is in uniform again, having washed it however early that morning. She is still without her energy handguns as Scott and Jean locked them up, but she does have some sort of bulky silver bracelet on one wrist. She glances about and then heads out, moving toward the maze in the East Grounds. Her brown half cloak is pulled up to help hide most of her red hair. She got some sleep last night and got her emotions back in check, and now...she has more work to do. Kenzie often wandered the maze when she needed time to think, most of the other students didn't bother to commit it to memory so it was 'private' and she could relax, not worrying about containing her energy. Today however it seems Kenzie has decided to take a nap several inches off the ground, more an experiment in how much control over her magnetic repulsion she had, and also its mid-day and she was bored. Hope is moving through the maze though, wanting to make sure she is out of view of the school before she bodyslides. It's a little chilly still, only in the high 40s tops today. That is perhaps why it surprises her all the more to see someone outside, but then again...electricity does have a habit of keeping you warm! There is a sharp intact of breath and Kenzie could perhaps hear the booted footsteps, "Sor...ry Coil," and Hope sharply turns as if to retreat. Kenzie feeling the sudden addition of 'something' snorts and wakes up with a start, falling from the air and landing with a noizy thump! "OWW WMAH BUTT!" she whines out looking over curiously, "ahh..whut?" she asks before sayin "Hey, wait, y'aint gotta go, ahh just think y'all got me confused wit someone else. Names Kenzie" she says extending a gloved hand as she stands up, "Kenzie Young." she looks you over "You new here? Aint been payin much 'tention t'the nouncments lately. Hope turns to look at you, "Are you..alright?" Her brow knots up, but it is mostly showered by the brown hood. "Ya, I know." But she isn't Coil? That's weird...then again, it isn't like Hope knew she had a different codename prior to joining the X-Men. The girl looks fully dressed up in some sort of uniform, "I'm Hope Summers. I'm...new," she says. "I'm supposed to be taking testing soon for placement, but I'm not sure yet." Like there is doubt she should even be attending school. "I'm sorry, I really got to go," and that is when Hope really moves to take off unless she is caught or stopped some way. Kenzie blinks at the sudden and suspicious behavior "Oi wait a min!" she calls out, pushing off the ground with her air skate, using her hands to propel her forward faster, "Wait a min!" she calls as she tries her best to catch up with the girl. The air skating helps you, because the girl is fast and seems to have also memorized the maze. But she suddenly whirls about, "What?!" And the two of you likely almost collide if you two don't. Yep, Hope is totally acting suspicious, alas. The sudden stop causes Kenzie to attempt to 'put on the brakes' however that means she suddenly 'locks' to the ground, which of course means hands and feet due to how she was positioned, this also means if Hope didn't move, she would be 'around' her...how awkward! Hope actually stumbles back, and barely catches herself from falling on her tush! And she has an arm full of Kenzie. Yep...awkward. Though Hope actually blushes in embarrassment as she works to disentangle herself from the other teenager. "Umm...what did you want? I really got to go, you know." Hope doesn't quite meet Kenzie's eyes. Kenzie sits up and brushes her self off hurredly as she moves to stand "Jes where is it y'all gotta get to goin to in such a hurry?" she asks interrogatingly, "Where's t'fire?" she narrows her eyes at Hope, "And did y'all start it.." And then it really hits Hope, just how young Kenzie looks. Her green eyes squit briefly. She always was a bit of a hot-headed one, but..., "I'm actually going to put one out." A pause then, "Will you keep a secret?" It's dangerous to do this, and Hope bites her lower lip as a result from nervousness. Mastermind, Hope is not. "Depends on what it is." she says coldly, her suspicion boiling over, "Ahh'm listenin" she says though, "What's t'problem s'yall caint wait?" Hope takes a deep breath, "I saved the Queen the other day, like, the Queen of England's life." A brief pause and then, "I got to do something else today, I got to stop something bad from happening, but it isn't going to be easy and I don't have anyone else to trust. Everyone's suspicious of me, or thinks I'm some stupid kid that needs protected from her own decisions. Will you help?" And then Hope holds out a gauntlet hand toward you. "Please," she pleads softly. What's this? Someone who everyone considers weak? Considers too helpless to trust on her own? Kenzie understood the feeling well. Taking the gauntleted hand in her own gloved one Kenzie nods "Where we goin?" she asked looking down at her pocket "And how much firepower y'all thinkin we be needin?" The smile that lights up on Hope's face is bright. "A lot. But I have a stash. You need to grab anything before we leave?" Hope's hand squeezes Kenzie's hand gently. "Yeah, gimme two shakes, ahh'll meet you here in 10.." Kenzie exclaims before darting off towards the mansion. Jean had made her lock up most of her annihilator ammo, the big metal orbs she'd kept on hand after her recent problems but she'd kept a box in her room for emergencies. Moving to pocket a few in her belt pouches, the girl rushes back outside, assuming this is more 'on the sly' work, she leaves her uniform and instead grabs bandanna and a knit cap to cover her identity. Hope is nervously waiting, hoping you don't betray her last second! But when Kenzie shows back up with her goods, the girl relaxes. "Alright, you can't tell anyone though, especially about this." She then reaches out to hold Kenzie's hand and with her other taps the wristband on that wrist. Kenzie will almost feel it, perhaps a tickling sensation at most, but the visual is perhaps the most frightening. Hers and Hope's body seems to come apart at the seams, becoming digitalized, and then there is nothing for a nano-second before they start to come back together in a rundown apartment that has Golden Girls posters on the walls. Hope lets go of your hand and heads toward a duffle bag to unzip it and start strapping a handgun to each thigh strap, normal guns, and pulls out a black belt with ammo strapped to it to put around her waist. It rests lopsided as it is too big for her, and obviously wasn't meant to be part of her outfit. But the really scary thing? When she picks up a plasma rifle that was resting against a wall and lugs it to one shoulder. "I'm ready now." HOLY SHIT?! And her expression is so serious beneath that hood! "Let's go kick AIM butt, and save the world." And come on, that just sounds cool, of course Hope had to go there! Eyeing the massive rifle Kenzie blinked confused "Wait...we goin t'war?" she asks as she moves to keep up with Hope, securing her belt around her waist and moving to begin tugging off her gloves and shove them in her hoodie pockets. "Careful of t'skin now, ain't antin y'all t'get hurt" she explains. "It's fine, gloves," Hope says and wiggles fingers at you from her free hand. Shifting the plasma rifle to rest on its strap across her back she moves to grab your hand again and taps some other things into the wrist band. "And we have always been at war, just people haven't realized it." The way she speaks is so matter-of-fact, as the two then start to digitally come apart and then back together in St. Roch. Suddenly appearing as if digitally put back together again are Kenzie Young and Hope Summers. Hope has a plasma rifle hanging from a strap on her back, and two handguns - one strapped to each thigh - and a black ammo belt hanging lopsidedly about her hips (a bit too big for her). Hope let's go of Kenzie's hand as she looks about the narrow alleyway, and then starts to head toward a back street that cars can actually use between the two half blocks that are back-to-back to each other. Hope speaks quietly, "There is an AIM base in this block somewhere. We got to find it, blow it up, and delete the research they are performing there. Oh, and not die, we aren't allowed to die," she says, half jesting about the last part. "Actually...this might be easier with you Kenzie, you can likely find the base a lot faster tan me." There's a distinct yelp of panic as reality shifts around Kenzie, her head turning here and there as she tries to grasp exactly what just HAPPENED to her,"What th...wait wha" she snaps out looking "How..." she looks to Hope and narrows her eyes "WARNING next tahhm" she whines looking a little queasy before calming her self and closing her eyes. "You need bases?" she asked with a smile while reaching out around her. Everything had its own 'hue' in her mind, the more power, the different it 'looked' to her. "How big.." she said as she opened her eyes, the sparkle of those orbs clear as day without her shades on. "Not sure, but considering they are doing research on alien materials, they likely got to have a decent base to let a decent to large number of researchers work on it." It isn't like she knew exactly where this place was in the tales she heard, but she did find out this is the block from when she stopped in at the bar without a name last night to get Deadpool's number...who knew associating with criminals could have such useful information! She had thought she couldn't have prevented this, and would have had to just show up at the 'big event'. Hope peeks out along the somewhat car friendly alleyway. "And do you want to blast the door down? I thought it could work as a surprise attack." Kenzie frowned and looked about, then down at the ground "Woah..." she mutters softly as she looks around her, slowly turning to face an old run down house "there.." she says softly, "Its...its big.." she explains. "I think organizations like AIM and HYDRA like to over-compensate," Hope snarks. But she is then on the move, careful in her approach to the building. She is glancing around. "Inside the house, or is there an entrance on the outside?" She keeps her eye out for potential hidden security cameras. Kenzie begins to walk closer "No...its.." she looks over at a nearby storm cellar hatch. "There.." she says "Some kind of device to access ...ahh think its like a tunnel?" she says unsure. Looking to hope, "An, ahh ain't sure a big blown out door be d'best way in...we ain't but two helpless girls" she said before laughing "But..if its an electronic lock..." she smiles and lets an arc of energy snap across her fingers. Somewhere above, a bird is in flight. Not just any bird, though. Redtail patrols the skies, though the shape is indistinct. There are wings, but the form is a bit off. Though it's the middle of the day, one never knows when trouble will show up and in what form. Clipped between the wings is a simple spear, a mace belted at her side. "Alright," and Hope tests it. It is securely locked. "Let's back up, I'm going to blast open the lock." She then starts to run a bit back, and swings her plasma rifle about her shoulder to bring it upright and at shooting position. She aims carefully. "Kenzie?" She waits till the girl is far enough away before she will take her shot...and thus, not only the sound of plasma fire will be heard, but also the blare of a high-pitched alarm system that goes off underground and spills out a bit from the now very hole inflicted cellar doors. Is it too loud or suspicious? Not really, but for those trained in combat that overhear it, they would know energy weapon fire when they hear it. Kenzie was backing up as the weapon was fired, stumbling back and crying out "SHIT!" as the hatch just 'explodes' "What the hell IS dat ting?!" she says as she sits up, looking at the now smoldering cellar hatch and moving back to her feet. "Plasma rifle, my handguns are more controlled, but Scott and Jean took them away and locked them up. This was a gift recently, so got to use what you have, including primitive technology," and pats the real modern bullets gun (one of them anyway) strapped to her thigh. But she then starts to move in, "Careful, AIM will often have plasma guns too, and they can burn right through you if they nail you." The rifle has been slung back to her back and she pulls out a handgun, holding it 'at ready'. She actually appears well trained with weaponry, and her movements are confident. Ahh, the benefit of sharper sight. Behind the winglike helmet she wears, Redtail's eyes snap toward the sign of some sort of explosion, cutting off a brief curse as her jaw clenches. Wings shift as she goes into a dive in that direction, angling her body to gain speed. "Guess the po'boy has to wait." Looking at the quarter in her hand, Kenzie droops and puts it away, retrieving a golf ball sized steel sphere. In the future, Hope might know these as Coil's 'Annihilators'. The 'ammo' had become her staple weapon by that time, but sadly in the present, they actually took effort to use. Clutching it in her hand the girl wished she actually had more of them, the dozen or so she had managed to squirrel away were not going to last, which meant she had to really wait till it mattered. Instead, she swaps it for a handful of lead shot, "Ahh hate not havin bigger hands" she grunts looking to hope "We ready?" Hope slips down into the tunnel area, trying to ignore the sirens. She heads down the metal grating, and tries to hurry until it gets down to the T bottom, which heads down two separate hallways. That is when the AIM soldiers are found and Hope has to leap backward to keep from getting shot! "Whoa!" She makes a face, "Least they are bad shots," she grumbles. The yellow bolts are zipping back and forth, "Maybe if we stand here, they might accidentally shoot each other in the cross-fire," her tone wiry. As she gets closer, Redtail can see the bursts of plasma fire before she's able to hear it. "The hell's going on down there?" she asks, nobody close enough to overhear unless you count the confused bird she zips past. Knowing the need to be careful of the blasts below, she pulls up short with spear in hand, the wings tucking back against her. "Whoever's in there, it's Redtail. Put the guns down! This is your only warning!" She sure sounds authoritative. Kenzie snarled at the sirens and reached up to one of the speakers pushing a massive surge of energy into it, hoping to short out the entire alarm system, but at least blowing this speaker out. "Damnit they're gonna kill us!" she spits out before looking to Hope "Wishful thinkin yeah?" she laughs putting her back to the wall before looking at the exit "Damnit. We got company!" A pause then, "Who the hell is Redtail?" Considering she only knows of a Hawkgirl that died and got replaced by another one, and a crazy Hawkman...she didn't know who Hawkgirl was Redtail -before-. But Hope then calls out, "Tell the bad guys that!" But she then ducks in low as she sticks her head and arms out, firing her gun at some of the minions before quickly sticking her head back and letting out a squeak, "I think I felt a shot go near my ear," she complains. "Damn it, we need more firepower. Can't you blast them or something Kenzie?" She said she wasn't Coil, so the girl has no clue what to call her! "Like, annihilator them or something." Redtail keeps herself out of the range of fire while remaining outside, judging the angles of fire before taking her chance to move in behind something for cover, wings tucked back. If anyone's studied appearances she has a very similar look to Hawkgirl's, just different in the color scheme. "Whoever you are," she begins toward the two girls, "Tell me what this is all about. This is no usual basement." The sharp, pointy end of the spear can be seen from behind her position of protection, eyes poking over the top of it. Kenzie looked to Hope with a look of shock. the adults NEVER asked her to go all out... "Ahh uh..ahh..y...yeah.." she says before changing out her shot for a metal sphere. Her arm begins to encase with energy as she says "Gimme cover..ahhma need a second.." What? Whats this 'needing time' stuff. The girl began to focus, waiting for Hope to give her an opening, and leaving her unable to defend against Redtail should she attack. Hope yells up the hallway, "I'm not yelling a stupid explaination! Get in here if you want to know and say hello to the AIM agents!" She rolls her eyes and says more normally to Kenzie, "Ugh, adults." But Hope pulls back to let Kenzie get access to the hallway in front of them with AIM soldiers on either side. She covers Kenzie from the back just in case. Redtail's eyes narrow behind the ones of the helmet, more difficult to read that way. "AIM agents?" Another curse. Apparently she's heard a thing or two about them. "That's all you had to say. Now keep back and let me work." She's got no idea what Kensington's asking for cover for, but if anyone can provide it the winged woman's able. She does pause at the sign of energy forming, asking as she advances, "What's the deal with her?" Kenzie pushes hard, actually screaming with the level of effort this thing takes to control before letting it loose. It wasn't shy on kinetic power at all, and in such a close quarters, the air pressure generated by the explosion would be incredible, trace electricity darting along the floor as she pants turning her head and vomiting, the effort actually causing her to feel ill, her skin slightly pale. "Ahh..." she begins but just forces a smile "Ahh'm okay," she says, taking a moment to catch her breath, feeling as if she'd run a mile. Hope blinks up at Redtail, "Oh, hi..," a brown hood from her half cloak pulled up atop her head, though bits of red hair still escapes. But then Kenzie lets out a cry, and she then ducks down at the air pressure and the burn of ozone. "Oooookay, that looked exhausting." Which is strange, but must be the age difference. Hope makes a point to remember the age difference. Then toward Redtail, "Are you sure you aren't Hawkgirl?" But she then moves to peek out at the stillness to see stuff crumbling from above and exposed wiring that zaps at nothing, but the air. There are AIM agents buried under some debris and some of their bee keeper suits look burnt, and we will the bits of blood splatter. "That works for...," she then ducks in real quick as the people on the other end start firing again after they get over the shock. Hope moves to slip the handgun into her thigh strap and moves to shift the plasma rifle to her shoulder, "Think you can buy me time to get a good shot Redtail? Bout time I carried my own weight, right?" She grins toward Kenzie. Redtail stops and takes a half-step back, hair felt to stand at the back of her neck when the feeling of ozone surges around her. "Damn," she mutters, staring at Kensington for just a moment at the effects of what she's just done. "Get her behind something, whoever you are," is the first thing she tells Hope before plasma fire is sent back their way, causing her to go more flat against the wall for a moment. Hope might see her jaw clenched, though from anger or something else it's not clear. "It's a long story, and if you don't have the time I don't either until this is over with. I'll get you your time." So long as they're in more close quarters she swaps out the spear for the mace, reaching into a pouch for something to throw ahead of her. "Close your eyes, girls." The sudden flash when the pellets hit precedes her rushing forward in the wake of whatever disorientation the bright burst of light adds to the AIM goons. Then comes the sound of the mace as it strikes a gun. Kenzie was panting as Hope commented about pulling her own weight, "Well, ahh COULD just do it all mah self. Ahh mean, if yer okay carryin me back to th'school an esplainin why ahhm a smokin' pile of soot" she laughs before holding her sides and wincing. "Forgot how doin dis felt. Now ahh remember why ahh ain't do it often.." As Redtail fires off her flashbombs Kenzie winces and covers her eyes! The girls still rather out of it, and might not be 'combat ready' for another minute or so. Hope's eyes snap shut tightly and she raises an arm to cover them to protect them. "No, I think that's alright Kenzie, you can walk." Hope's eyes open, blink, and then she rolls out into the hallway and lifts the rifle up to her shoulder. She takes careful aim, she has to, Hawkgirl is all over the place! She means Redtail! But just as an AIM soldier seems about to get his own energy rifle up, Hope pulls the trigger. There is a hole where there once was flesh, but she's rising to her feet. "Kenzie, can you walk?" Her tone is serious as she starts to run toward Redtail, "Coming up from behind," she warns Redtail so she doesn't get decked, as she uses her rifle's butt as a weapon on one poor AIM shoulder's head, letting Redtail finish off the last one. There is some sort of strange grinding sound from down the hallway. Redtail doesn't look, simply counting on the others to, as it was said, pull their weight. It doesn't give her much of a chance to watch what Hope's up to, but the accuracy of the shot is all she needs to know. Her response to the warning of coming closer is to grunt, peeling off toward one side of the way in as she brandishes the mace in one hand, cautious steps taken until she's sure she can proceed. Another small handful of those pellets end up tossed around a corner, leading into a charge after the flash. Kenzie just nods and plants one hand against the wall, a series of arcing electrical tendrils seeming to anchor her hand in place. Massive static charge it would appear, "Ahh'm fahhn." she insists, "Jes...it's just a lil disorientin, ahh jus need a moment." she grins, showing she's okay. "Call us if something happens Kenzie and you need backup, otherwise, follow at your own pace," Hope says, a mixture of command and compassion in her tone. She then follows after Redtail, the rifle being slung onto her back again while she pulls free her handguns. The flash bangs only cover up their entrance as they charge down the hallway and burst into the main laboratory area! It is multi-tier, the floorings circular above and donut shaped as a hole goes all the way up the center. The ground floor is the main one however, and where a human appears to be in a liquid filled tank with some sort of golden-like metal surrounding most of his body. Redtail would recognize it immediately as she can 'sense' it, her soul is connected to 'it'. It appears the metal and the human within the tank though have not fully 'merged' yet. Hope already has a handgun in each hand and is firing it as scientists start to scatter. Her eyes are steeled, but she will cry later when she is away from all of this. Just because the girl does what needs to be done, doesn't mean she doesn't hurt from it. "We got to erase all the data here," she grounds out, working to hide the pain in her voice. "What the f--" Redtail cuts off as she's in the midst of speaking, something drawing her attention right to the tank containing the man and metal within. "How the hell did they get /Nth/ Metal, and what are they doing to him?" She barely looks back toward Hope at the mention of erasing data, saying, "Not until I know what this is all about." Then she's in the air since there's room to spread her wings, eyes sweeping the area as she goes in search of more people to fight off first, if there are any remaining to deal with. "No, you don't understand!" Hope sounds stubborn at this, but there are two on the higher levels that Redtail can deal with. Hope is moving toward the case and her jaw sets stubbornly, "How am I supposed to kill you?" She is grumbling to herself as she eyes the thing within the tube. "What I understand is I know the kind of metal that's down there," Redtail snaps back before she moves with a purpose and quickness, flying sharper and faster than either of the AIM people can track in time to shoot, not for lack of trying on their part. One gun is busted to pieces again with the mace before she knocks the guy out, then the other one just gets rushed before she decks him as well, turning her attention back toward Hope and the tank below. It's not long before a strange sound can be heard, slapping of feet on the ground, but up. It's an inverted Kenzie trying to find her way into the area the others were in, clinging to the wall with her massive static charge. For now, she just looks on trying to process the situation. The two aren't hard to find. It's two ways to depart from the entrance hall and one way is blocked by debris thanks to Kenzie. The other way has down AIM soldiers, some dead in the 90 degree angle turn. The doors leading off the hallway have been ignored, and then it empties into a large research area, which has no real 'ceiling' for Kenzie to cling to, as the second tier is above where the hallway ceiling ends by a good couple feet. Hope stands in front of the man with the golden liquid-like armor encircling him thinly. "I heard about it. Nth metal, alien technology, Thanagarian. It can bond with some people. That's all I know about Nth metal though," which isn't much, but more than public knowledge likely. "Anyway, this is a test subject, one that is suppos...," but Hope doesn't get it out because she lets out a scream of fright and surprise! The man inside the tubing snapped open his eyes. They were hawk-like in appearance rather than humanoid, and a metal fist raises up to punch against the glass. It sends cracks along it, then punches it again before it shatters and the liquid sprays all over the place. Even as it shatters, from one hand forms a mace as it starts to come down toward Hope who was standing too close, her arms raised up, guns not properly putted to protect her face from the flying glass and strange science liquid. So much Nth! And directly seeming to connect to his body rather than simply worn like the Hawks. It is...honestly disgusting in a cool and dark way. But Hope grunts as she is tossed aside and impacts on the wet floor, her guns skittering out of hand. But she's already moving to force herself back up to chase after her guns, cursing! He's awake! He doesn't appear complaint as the liquid Nth seems to shift over his body like maggots on rotten trash, but he is still very, very dangerous. She finds one of her guns quickly before she yells at Kenzie, "He's barefoot Kenzie!" While everyone else is wearing boots...and the floor is metal. Redtail is soon finding herself in a fight for her very life! The shocked vibrations of the impact as she blocks the man's attack can be felt all the way up her arm to her shoulder and into her back and neck. Already his other hand a sword is rising from to try and slash down at her from the other direction, while still attempting to press in on her with his mace. The eyes reflect no humanity, only...murder. Hope's commands incite an instantaneous reaction from Kenzie, her past issues with hesitation causing her to push hard this time. Darting down to her hands and knee's Kenzie calls over "Here it comes!" and lets loose, pushing a charge directly through the floor and towards the man! "What../are/ you?" Redtail barely manages to ask, not so much expecting an answer from it as the man seems intent on doing her in one way or another. She swears again at the impact sent up her arm, ducking back in the nick of time to prevent a cut or worse from the sword as the hand gripping the mace briefly goes slack, only keeping possession of the weapon thanks to the strap around her wrist. Seeing nothing she can appeal to in his eyes, but clearly noticing the way the Nth Metal has bonded to him in ways previously unimaginable, she goes airborne again just as the jolt of electricity flows into the floor. Of course, metal is a conductive and it will spread outward. Redtail and Hope are likely to feel it if they remain connected to the floor, but their rubber soled boots will protect them from anything truly damaging. On the other hand, the 'test subject' is wet, part metal, and barefoot on the floor! There is an inhuman cry that comes from the man, almost hawk sounding as the electricity flows through him, his flesh seeming to burn and heal right before the others eyes. He then starts to grow wings from his back as Redtail has. Hope lifts her gun and starts shooting at him, still trying to find her other one. "Hey, ugly! Come try to squish me again you freak!" She's purposely trying to draw attention from the creature to her as the bullets reflect harmlessly off his armor. But it's leaving an opening for Redtail if all goes well, and Kenzie is still causing damage, forcing the Nth metal to heal him....using more of its power. Kenzie hollers "Not a chance!" reaching into her pocket with her right hand she withdraws a fist full of assorted change and subway tokens and throws it towards the 'creation' As the cluster of bits near him she fires a bolt of lightning as hard as she can at them causing the energy to arc between all the coins forming a short lived 'net' pattern of energy "Hurry!" she cries to the others. The monster is facing the wrong direction as he faces Hope, and he lets out another inhuman cry when the lightning from Kenzie's hand strikes him, and he looks about to charge toward her before a bunch of painful flashbang-like things go off near him. But then Redtail is attacking, the spear staff actually breaks shockingly! And as Redtail's knee goes into him, she can feel it collide with metal that formed instinctively over his vulnerable stop. "We need an opening guys, this thing...is a monster, it's not human or mutant!" Hope actually sounds afraid, but she's holding it together. She finally catches sight of her other gun and picks it up, slipping the one she shot the most away as it only has two bullets left. She uses the newly freed hand to pull up a computer screen and start to panic! She can't understand all the techno-babble the scientists state in the files! She says mostly to herself, "We are...so screwed." Well, before she remembers the plasma rifle...if they can get a weak point to stay open! Kenzie doesn't let up, pulling out a pair of quarters and putting one in each hand "Incoming!" she calls out preping a pair of railguns, the first aimed about 2 or 3 feet off to the side to distract the creation, like firing an RPG-7 the coin impacts violently. Should Redtail realize how dangerous they are and give Kenzie room to fire again, the girl would release the other hand aimed directly at the creature, else she would simply wait. More bad words follow from Redtail as the majority of the spear is left in need of replacement. She's still got the sharp end, something she might be able to do something with, but it could be back to the mace in short order. More important is the way the metal flowed to deny her the soft spot she was going for with the knee. "It's like he knows what I'm about to do!" she calls back, adding, "Are there any weaknesses?" to Hope. For the time being she gives Kensington all the room that's needed, which also allows her a moment to try to formulate a different plan of attack. "There...there has to be, he isn't completed!" He isn't completed, those words out of Hope's mouth my reveal just how bad this situation is or could become. But she puts her handgun away and flips about her plasma rifle again. Hope gets on one knee as Kenzie releases the second attack when Redtail pulls away. The monster screams, his wings spreading out, as he starts to run toward Kenzie even as the second release happens! His liquid-like armor seems to shudder and twist over him, just as Hope lets loose with the plasma rifle. The plasma rifle is shot in burst after burst, with Hope keeping down low to avoid the backshots of the plasma shots when they reflect back toward her general direction. "Look for an opening Redtail! Don't let up Kenzie!" She has to yell to be heard over the noise of the attacks and the cries of the creature as it seems to twist its body and fling its arms wildly! Overwhelm the creature, and pray for an opening that will not close up too fast. The problem for Kenzie was she couldn't keep up the blistering pace, and if the monster kept advancing it would certainly get her, and in something of a panic moment the girl roots her feet to the ground via static charge and begins to try and reverse her own internal magnetic polarity, an attempt to push the metalocreature back! Redtail shoots a look toward Hope. At least that's what it seems to be. "What do you mean he isn't completed? What happens when he's..oh forget it. I'm taking him down right now." While they're blasting him with whatever they can, she takes to wing again and grips the mace tightly enough in both hands that the knuckles turn white, teeth visible as she bares them in her charge, swinging at a spot between the man's wings! As tough as he is, she's not holding back at this point. The harder the impact, the more likely she thinks it'll be that he falls and with the back exposed... Being pushed from the front, the liquid-metal gets somewhat forced more to the back, but as the plasma rifle shots bounce off of him, Redtail's mace connects! The wings start to shatter and pieces fall down, while the rest forms back into his body and returning to the liquid-metal. A powerful arm flashes back, flinging backward to try and smack Redtail aside as the hawk cries out in aggression. "Damn it, where is Magneto when you need him?!" Hope lets up on her firing to move toward the broke glass man-sized test tube. "Keep him distracted, Kenzie gave me an idea!" She is actually ripping over the back door to the motor beneath the test tube and starts to try and reach in to rip some wires part, letting out a yell when she accidentally electrocutes herself a bit, before she starts to rewire it. Idea? Big magnet! Kenzie keeps pushing against that creature before seeing Hope's line of thought, "Jus get it reversed, ahh can power it!" she calls before firing another arc of energy at the monster. Redtail's satisfied at the result she draws from her strike, not ashamed in the least to hit him from behind. It's about survival right now. "I--" is all she gets out before he catches her square in the side of the face, part of the helmet's guard lessening the impact but not enough that it prevents a cut from being opened up at the corner of her mouth, blood quickly tasted. "You wanna play rough? I can play rough." She spits a glob of blood to the side and clashes with him again, more to distract as she puts some faith in the others. "You'd better be right about this, and quick too! He's strong!" Mace is brought to blows once more. Hope is trying to hurry! Her hands she forces to keep steady as she works, trying the others to not let her get squished! "I almost have it! I'll need you to ramp it up without overloading it Kenzie!" In the meantime, the creature is fighting violently and quickly, raising a shield that forms to block the next attack from the mace and a spear forming in his other hand to stab out toward Kenzie though it stops short because of the electro-reject field Kenzie is pushing out toward the metal. Twist, twist of the wires, and Hope's eyes widen, "I think I have it!" There is a slam heard as she closes the door and tries to race away, "Charge it Kenzie! Redtail, get ready to nail him at an opening!" She is pulling up her own plasma rife when she is far enough away (she believes) to take aim. Kenzie suddenly pushes off the ground, her skate pushing sparks behind her as she rushes towards hope. Looking to the motor, she grits her teeth and plants her hands on the power terminals. Helpless now, Kensington put all of her energy into power regulation into the engine, once it starts to turn over she begins to back up quickly, keeping a stream of electricity flowing to the motor! Redtail's mace crashes against the shield, and while it gains her no advantage neither does it allow the creature the chance to truly focus on the others. If she needs to run distractions, that's what she'll do. "Do it!" is all she adds, swinging the mace at the man's arm that's turned into a spear tip, if for no other reason than to deflect it from its target. That is when Hope loses grip on her rifle and is slowly begin dragged by the strap about her toward the motor when it activates fully! Redtail can feel the dangerous pull of it against own pieces, her own super strength the only thing keeping it from flying away with her! And the creature...the creature howls! The metal looks as if it is slowly starting to be peeled from his flesh as he fights against it! Bit by bit...it starts to expose flesh. "I...Redtail!" Hope's eyes are wide as she realizes she...cannot do anything, her leather straps creaking as the guns threaten to be yanked from them, and she's fighting against it. She thinks...she over calculated....and that is when Kenzie can feel it. The motor...it is building up a blind EMP burst, though not an explosive. "What?!" And it hits Hope. "Kenzie...get me out of range, NOW!" Her voice is panicked...or....can she...she's fighting it, she wears metal all over her body too and she slides a few feet closer to the monster as her one hand fights to access the chunky metal wristband on one wrist. She flips open the cover, "What's the range and time Kenzie?!" The noise is horrible. Ruining the computers here is no big deal for Hope, but she isn't about to risk her time traveling device...her only potential link to her dad. "Let it! That thing will kill Hawkgirl and ruin Hawkman!" Though even she winces at the horrible sound of pain from the monster. She then starts to struggle with tapping something into the wristband. Kenzie shakes her head "Ahh dunno!" she cries out, "Magnetism ain't exactly the same thing!" she looks to the others "If ahh stop, ittl go off...range.." she begins trying to calculate "The room at least! Whole complex more lahhkly!" she cries "If you're gonna do somethin, do it now!" she shouts, lowering the power to the motor trying to buy the group time "Tell me when!" Hope is struggling, and slides a few more feet, just out of striking range from the monster. She is fighting to push the last button, her entire body shaking from the strain, "Redtail, make your move now!" She then looks at Kenzie, her eyes promising her return as she hits the very last button. Her words sound fading, "Don't let it become an explosion with you two inside!" Her body then digitally comes apart and she disappears from view...her equipment safe from the EMP that is building now. The monster howls again, his eyes still inhuman, but he speaks for the first time, "Mine...," the words little more than screeched, "All mine....kill you all....it is...mine!" Perhaps he is talking of the Nth Metal or the city...but it is completely unclear. But almost half his body is now exposed flesh, tender for attack if it is taken. "He's..going to../what?/" Redtail grits through a tight jaw, straining to regain more control over her mace than the electromagnet's field has. "How do you know?" Granted, he looked ready to kill /her/ until the metal started to end up ripped out of him. She manages to at least maneuver herself into the path of the thing before she stops resisting the pull, using it instead to what she hopes is her advantage as she takes hold of the end of the broken spear before it can fly off. With the being having turned to face her his losing effort to escape the forces drawing on all things metal, she wears a determined look even as the magnetism draws her helmet up and off her head. That only makes it easier to see what she's decided she has to do, flying toward him to drive the spear up between the ribs, aimed for the heart. "No. You won't." Two blocks away, Hope Summers reforms, falling to her knees exhausted as sweat drips down her! "Shit...I screwed up again." She fights the tears back, "I...can't do this alone...I -can't-." And while Hope has her little break down away from everyone else, Kenzie can feel the EMP building further and about to snap its release. And just as it starts to snap, she can see the mask falling off Redtail's face to reveal short brownish hair, and the spray of blood as the spear finds its place between the ribs and actually being ripped free from the wood once inside and ripping further through the monster's innards due to the magnetic force! Blood pours from the monster's mouth in its dying throes even as the EMP bursts. Kenzie seeing the last moments to act suddenly reverses the flow of energy causing the engine to not only seize, but to break down instantaneously. Anyone capable of sensing or seeing it would experience a nebulous wave of energy expanding from the epicenter of the engine and in a heartbeat encompasses an entire city block centered on the motor. Cars suddenly stall, lights die and erupt, computers become paperweights. Everywhere things just 'stop' and for a split second the city around the house falls silent, safe for the sound of Redtail, the monster, and Kensington panting. The spear is let go of, more by force than choice as the rest suddenly happens, plunging the whole place into darkness as everything cuts out. The creature goes down, the pull is no more - quickly, Redtail grabs the helmet to put it back in place where it belongs - and she staggers back a few steps, dropping to a knee with a huff. Any emergency lights? Kenzie was on all fours panting and wheezing. This little adventure had sure taken it out of her, a clear sign she needed to up her endurance. "You....okay....ov...over there?" she asked towards Redtail between breaths. It takes time...a few seconds go by where only a seeming gurgle comes from the dead monster, and nothing more. Suddenly, there is a strange sound as Hope bodyslides back in, her face wiped clean of tears, and the dim light of emergency lights come on when a generator kicks up in the facility. She is standing there, staring first at the dead creature, her face wrinkling up as if she is about to lose her lunch, but she then takes on a sharp intake of breath, and says, "I'll look for survivors...," and...she won't be able to bring herself to coldly shoot them. She knows she should, her dad would, but she cannot quite cross that line. In the heat of battle and that moment she can pull the trigger when she has too, she even shot most of the scientists dead, but she cannot do it in the calm like this, when they are defenseless. Though there is a look sent toward Redtail, an expression of apology from Hope before she turns away to do what she promised to do. "I'm..fine." Redtail doesn't look as much toward anyone or anything other than the man that had been bonded to the Nth Metal. "How they ever did this, I have no idea," she's heard muttering to herself as she's the one to move close enough to inspect what's left of man and metal, the mace still in hand in case it's needed. A few other small slices have been opened up over her arms and torso from one thing or another, likely the metal itself, but she seems otherwise well. "Gotta let them know." Kenzie just nods and says "Ahhlright..ahh..ahh think....ahhma..." she swallowed hard, "Ahhma go throw up, and then pass out." she tried to lighten the mood, but she knew it was grim. Every place she touched sparked, the girls body still reacting if she was pushing. Her pulse racing as she tried to calm down. Meditative breathing as much as she can. The metal seems to be leaking from the monster's pours and slowly solidifying on the floor before Redtail...it remains misshapen. Hope searches for some zip-ties that were in a box with wires and uses them to pound the two surviving scientists wrists before she moves toward Kenzie. Gloved hands move to rest on the other teen's shoulders, "Sit and take deep breathes," and...if Kenzie does it...it will actually seem to work for a few moments...though it becomes more difficult as Hope goes to step away again. Guess a comforting touch helps? "I don't know a lot," Hope confesses, and what she does know will mostly confuse Redtail. "I just know he was an assassin for the Hawks. Hawkgirl was to die and...Hawkman would be pretty useless if that happened, right? I'm sure someone would have picked up Hawkgirl's name again, but....it wouldn't suddenly make things better for Hawkman." Hope actually really wants this to be enough as she glances about. "That EMP should have wiped out all the data and research, so it should protect it from happening again. I believe Nth metal is rare, so hoping if you seize the stuff...it won't get back out on the black market. Are you able to assure that Redtail?" No Nth metal, AIMs research is halted to a standstill. Kenzie just puts her back against the wall, running her fingers through her hair. "What in hell they be doin down 'ere?" she asked, "Ahh mean, ain't never seen nothin' lahhk dis...not..." she goes silent, remembering Elias' labs, "Let's destroy this place.." she said suddenly sounding angry, "Cave it in...anythin'," she continued. "ain't nothin' leavin' here to be used bahh someone else..." Redtail wears a frown, her visage again more hawk-like thanks to the effect the helmet gives. "How do you know all this?" she asks Hope simply, shaking her head slowly as she looks for some sort of container to collect all the metal she can, careful in the handling of it in this form just in case. She says nothing about what the plan would have probably caused had it come to fruition, adding only, "It won't end up in anyone else's hands," said in a way that ought to brook no question. As for the lab itself, she seems not to care what they do with it. "Kenzie...there are houses where people -live- over this facility. We can't just blow it up. We can blow up the consoles, the equipment, but not the entire structure," Hope does advise the other teen. "I don't want to pull innocents into this anymore than we already have. I did an error in rigging that system. I...could have killed an innocent." Hope recognizes this, she doesn't need told she screwed up potentially big time. Hope nods toward Redtail at her words, "Thanks," but at her question, Hope bites her lower lip. She is silent a moment before she says, "I just...know certain things. I can't explain it, I'm sorry. Please just trust me, I'm trying to help everyone. I want...the world to have a bright future, a -good- one, and I'll do what I have to, to assure that." Though she then looks at the two surviving scientists, "Though...I don't think I have the stomach to kill someone defenseless," she admits. "I don't know how much of the program each of them know though," her voice strained. Sometimes...she really, really, really wishes her dad was here to take the difficult decisions like this away from her. Poor Hope, she looks like she is about to cry again as she struggles with a decision that she shouldn't even have to deal with as a teenager. But she goes to pull one of her normal handguns free from a thigh strap and starts to walk toward them to point a gun to their head, her hand shaking. They were steady during combat, but this...this is very, very different. Kenzie didn't much listen to anything anyone was saying, instead focusing on the things she had experienced in a place just like this, however Kenzie managed to realize that not everyone on a team like this may be aware of what was being done. She didn't want to stop Hope, she wanted to pull the trigger her self... But she knew right from wrong. Pulling a pair of steel shot pellets from her pocket she took aim at Hope's pistols and fired. The micro railguns would impact with the same velocity a police issue 'rubber bullet' wound, knocking Hope's aim off, and hopefully actually disarming her. "Get me some steel rebar," she insisted, "They go to the cops." she insisted. "They ain't a threat, and if you shoot em now....you'll be the bad guy here...." Once she's found a way to collect the Nth Metal and taken care of as much as she could, Redtail keeps it close by but frowns at what's left to do. "We destroy as much as we can here, but like she said we can't bring the whole thing down. Now that I know about it, this place won't be used for anything like this again." Though a part of her may side with the thought of killing those still left, she shakes her head even as Kensington takes action. "They live and can be dealt with in better ways. They won't go back to what they were working on, and the data's lost anyway." She's giving Hope a much longer look, however. Though she kept quiet on just how Hope knew these things, she's trying to determine just what that likely makes the girl. There is a hiss of pain when the attack knocks the metal gun out of her hand with obvious force, which is what it would take to take a gun away from a trained shooter with a tiny ball. Hope turns toward Kenzie and points to her, "You -EVER- do that again Kenzie, I will -hurt- you, am I clear?" There is an intense look from Hope, one of anger and sudden distrust. "You ever disagree with me, you tell me, don't you -dare- attack me or try to take my weapons from me. You have -no- right, cause you have no high horse to ride." The exact meaning of that vague. But she moves to go pick up her gun and puts it away, "Then I'll leave this to you Redtail," her voice tense, "as you are a local hero. We need to leave, and I have somewhere to drop Kenzie off." Apparently, Kenzie's ride is over. Kenzie looks over to Hope, but doesn't say anything. "Yeah..," she didn't entirely get what Hope meant, but she would know eventually. "Let's get outta here.." she said before going silent, exhausted. "And yeah, were clear..." she said to Hope. "Enough." Redtail's voice cuts through at the end of the diatribe from Hope, adding, "She didn't know if you were going to do it or not. I might've done the same." That said, she does nod to one part of what Hope says, moving to ensure the minions are effectively bound as needed in order to prepare for transport elsewhere. As the others talk of getting out of there, Redtail knows the rest of this will be left up to her. That'll be the Nth Metal, the AIM people, including any others that were just knocked out and not killed (none by her), plus whatever's left to be done with the guy that was experimented on along with the machinery. It'll be a long rest of the day. Before all is said and done, the winged woman faces both Hope and Kensington, looking squarely at the pair. "For whatever it's worth - and I've got a lot of investigating to do with all of this - thanks for whatever led you here. You," she says to Hope, "I may need to see you again sometime." "I'm not some psycho or cold-blooded murderer, people -CAN- speak to me and I will listen to you. I don't need to be pushed around to have a point proven, having two people rather hand them into the law and take the guilt of me feeling I should shoot them away, is not something I would complain about. But I expect to be told or asked, not physically forced." But Hope then nods toward Redtail, "I'll be about the world. I'm sure we will cross paths again." She doesn't leave contact information as she starts to take her leave from the facility, expecting Kenzie to follow. Kenzie looks to Redtail and just gives a curt nod. Unlike Hope, Kenzie had a near instantly recognizable face if a person followed the news in the past few months. Tracking Kenzie, wouldn't be very difficult.